


It's in the Past

by thatnerdemilyj



Series: Tumblr Prompts [19]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Canon Rewrite, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, M/M, One-Sided Relationship, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-10-04 02:05:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20463242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatnerdemilyj/pseuds/thatnerdemilyj
Summary: Magnus had loved Alec since the moment he laid eyes on him. Alec took a little bit more time.Or... Where Magnus and Alec aren't together until they finally win the fight against Valentine.





	It's in the Past

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Magnus and Alec are not together until they finally win the fight against Valentine. The scene when they get back together behind the Hunters Moon would be actually the first time the Head of the Institute and the High Warlock talk about their feelings for each other, after all this time working together.

Magnus held up his martini glass to Maia, snapping his fingers to place an extra-large tip in her pocket when she smiled brightly at him. He looked around the Hunter’s Moon, taking in the noise surrounding him. He loved nights like these. Nights when vampires tossed shots of plasma while werewolves chugged from the keg with warlocks cheering them on and magically erasing the nausea and headaches that came from the overabundance of liquor. He saw Simon flirting with Maia behind the bar, attempting to shake up a mixed drink for Izzy. Clary and Jace were hand in hand as they pushed open the door, Clary sending him a small wave. He winked back at her and reminded himself to brew her a potion for her inevitable exhaustion tomorrow.

These people were his friends, he realized. Catarina and Raphael had always been there for him and even now, sitting at a booth and pretending the rest of the Shadow World didn’t exist. There was a time when he would have laughed in the face of anyone who told him he would come to consider a group of shadowhunters his friends. But, alas, there he was. At a downworlder hangout with every species known to those with the sight.

More importantly, there he was, shoulder to shoulder with a shadowhunter he was irrevocably in love with.

Magnus didn’t know when it happened. He was immediately attracted to the tall, lean man who saved his life twice before they were formally introduced. He flirted at any chance he was given and it seemed to make Alec smile. Meat puns and obvious name dropping caused stutters and laughs that had Magnus in competition with himself. Unfortunately, Magnus had instantly recognized the denial laced in Alec’s words and actions. His interested in men was far more than platonic. So, Magnus made it his mission from the beginning to stop him from making decisions based on what he thought he was supposed to do.

The first time he grew closer to Alec was his wedding. He was marrying a woman, an impressive woman, but a woman nonetheless. Magnus received the invitation, white and gold calligraphy painting the paper. It made his heart hurt. He had hurt for Alec, hurt for Lydia, hurt for himself. At that moment, he knew his feelings for Alec were more than platonic as tears sprang to his eyes. The invitation had said the wedding was today. Scrawled on the back, in perfectly rounded cursive was a note.  _ Save him, _ it said. Without trying to think, he portalled to the Institute, using magic to conjure up an appropriate outfit to get him past the guards. He banged open the runed wooden doors and stood in the aisle, his eyes never leaving Alec’s.

When Alec took the first few steps down the aisle, Magnus felt like he had lost all of the oxygen in his lungs. The fierceness in Alec’s eyes as his decision had been made had Magnus’ heart dropping to his stomach. As Alec moved closer to him, he braced himself. It was entirely possible Alec would escort him out of the building and never speak to him again. Instead, Alec took his hand and ran. They scurried out the door, Alec breathlessly begging for a portal.

“Where to, shadowhunter?” Magnus had asked, his brain not quite catching up to what was happening.

“Anywhere, warlock. Just… get me out of here,” Alec replied, his hand still holding Magnus’ solidly in his own. Magnus created the portal, deciding that his loft would be the safest place. That way, his friends could find him when they cleaned up the mess that had been made. Alec spent the night tossing between utter happiness, embarrassment, nervousness and panic before he finally fell asleep with his head in Magnus’ lap. Magnus ran his hands through Alec’s hair, savoring the closeness of his new found friend. 

A few months later, they were as inseparable as two people from different walks of life could be. Magnus had been working closely with the shadowhunters, especially Alec, and feeling like he had found something worth living this part of his life for. When the soul sword was activated, Magnus escaped with Madzie just in time. When she was settled with Catarina, he hurried to the Institute to see if there was anything he could do to help. The sight of his downworlder friends dead on the ground caused his stomach to knot and he started rushing outside before sickness overtook him. Izzy stopped him just before he left.

“You’re okay!” Izzy yelled, holding him tightly against her for only a moment before pushing him back. “Alec has been looking for you for hours, Magnus. Go find him.” She pointed him in the right direction and Magnus walked hurriedly. He avoided the sympathetic eyes of the shadowhunters and the angry ones of downworlders who survived, choosing instead to focus on the fact that Alec was looking for him. A major threat extending over everyone he’s even known and Alec was looking for  _ him _ . 

That was when he found Alec. He was out of breath, worry covering his face as his hands rubbed across it. The sun was rising behind his broad shoulders and Magnus thought it looked like he hadn’t slept all night. The relief that flooded through Alec’s expression when he saw Magnus made his heartbeat much faster. The tight embrace Alec pulled him into had his head spinning.

“Magnus, on every mission I’ve ever been on I’ve never felt that type of fear. I was terrified,” Alec started, holding onto Magnus’ shoulders like he was afraid he wasn’t real. Magnus nodded, his eyes softening at Alec’s words. He felt like sunshine under Alec’s gaze.

“Me too,” Magnus replied, unsure of what to say. There was a part of him that needed to be in Alec’s arms again. There was another part of him that wanted to yell out how much he loved him. All of him wanted to kiss him until neither of them could breathe.

“I don’t know what I would do without you,” Alec whispered, shaking his head. Magnus thought this was the moment. That moment he had dreamed about so many times before where Alec told him he loved him and they kissed and embraced and spent the rest of their lives together. But this wasn’t it. Alec rested their foreheads together before wrapping him in another tight hug before they were interrupted by Clary and Simon, who could somehow walk in the sun again.

After that moment, Magnus swore to never let his feelings come between them. Alec and the rest of the shadowhunters had turned into the most important people in his life. They trusted him and he, in turn, trusted them the same. Then he found out they didn’t. The soul sword was missing, a large chance that Valentine had it in his possession and was ready to wipe out his entire species, and the shadowhunters had kept it to themselves.  _ Alec didn’t tell him.  _

Magnus was angry. He thought their friendship, no matter how much he wanted it to be more than that, was built on mutual trust. It hadn’t taken much for Magnus to throw aside his prejudices and trust Alec with his whole heart. He thought those prejudices had disappeared for Alec as well. Apparently, he had thought wrong. And then Max was hurt so he didn’t have time to be angry at Alec. His friend needed him, so he was there. He pushed aside the frustration and hurt until Max had woken up. Then he chose his own people over Alec.

Choosing the warlocks was a difficult decision for Magnus to make, but it shouldn’t have been. There had never been a time where providing a safe space for warlocks wasn’t his first order of business. But now all he wanted was to protect the shadowhunters who had burrowed their way into his heart. More specifically, the one shadowhunter that had made him fall in love against all odds and then broke his trust and his spirit. He struggled to make the decision and immediately regretted it when he put his trust in the conniving Seelie Queen. He lost his title, he lost the trust of his people, and he had lost Alec.

Magnus wasn’t sure which loss hurt him the most.

So, there he was. Shoulder to shoulder with Alec after they had defeated Valentine. Celebratory hisses and howls and sparks of magic flew around the bar but Magnus couldn’t bring himself to care about any of that. All he wanted was assurance that things with Alec were going to be okay. He turned to look at the shadowhunter, who was obviously not enjoying the drink Jace bought for him judging by the sour look on his face. Before he could make a remark, though, Alec placed his drink on the bar in front of them and leaned toward Magnus, lips brushing his ear.

“Can we talk?” Alec asked. Magnus breathed in his scent and nodded slowly, tossing back the rest of his drink before following Alec through the back door and into the alley behind the Hunter’s Moon. The door shut heavily and silence surrounded them for the first time in weeks. Magnus looked around, taking in the darkness of the alley, the trash littering the ground, the bright lights of the city above, anything to avoid looking Alec in the eyes.

“Magnus, I’m sorry…” Alec started, but Magnus waved a hand, effectively cutting off whatever apology Alec had no doubt rehearsed.

“Don’t apologize,” Magnus urged, leaning against the wall behind him. There was static in the air and Magnus wasn’t sure if it came from the overuse of magic inside the Hunter’s Moon or the way Alec had made him feel.

“No, I should've told you about the soul sword,” Alec started again. Magnus pushed himself off the wall, taking hold of one of Alec’s hands, a friendly gesture Magnus had done time and time again.

“It's in the past.” Magnus tilted his head up, looking Alec in the eyes for the first time in what felt like months. They were just as beautiful as he had remembered, but a lot closer than they had ever been. Magnus shook the thought away, convinced that it was just his memory playing tricks on him. Alec sighed and Magnus could feel his breath on his face, smell the alcohol he had been forced to drink.

“Magnus, ever since our fight, I… I can't… I can't think straight,” Alec whispered, shaking his head and tugging on Magnus’ hand to pull him every so slightly so their bodies were almost touching. Alec interlaced their fingers, his thumb rubbing small circles on Magnus’ palm. Magnus’ heart sped up, his stomach dropped, and his spine tingled as he felt the spark in the air snapping even more. Magnus decided that if he had any chance with Alec, now was his time to find out. He breathed in deeply, his eyes never leaving Alec’s.

“Well, I can't do anything without thinking of you,” Magnus responded, a tremor in his voice as he reached his unoccupied hand out to cup Alec’s face. He let his thumb trace along Alec’s cheekbone, the breath leaving his lungs when Alec leaned into the touch. Alec’s hand snaked around Magnus’ waist, gripping his jacket in his hand and Magnus shook his head in astonishment.

“Magnus, I… I don't think I can live without you,” Alec admitted. Magnus watched him closely and tried to ignore the skip in his heart when Alec’s eyes darted to his lips. Magnus nodded, tilting his head up just enough to show Alec it was his turn to decide what he wanted. Magnus had guided him to and from so many decisions. Away from Jace and to someone that would be able to love him, away from Lydia and to a life where he could be happy, away from what he knew and to something vastly different, like Magnus.

The moment Alec leaned in, the whispered confession still floating between their lips, Magnus felt his body tremble. He had Alec’s face in his hands, Alec’s hands on his waist, gripping him as tight as he had always dreamed, and Alec’s lips moving against his own. The anger, the sadness, the heartbreak, the agony that Magnus had been through before this moment disappeared in a flash of bright light as Alec’s teeth grazed his bottom lip. Magnus grasped at the hair on the nape of Alec’s neck, pressing his body as close as he could to the other man’s. His heart was filled with happiness for the first time in so long and it was all because of Alec. They were forced to pull away before either of them could deepen the kiss as the bar door slammed open behind them. A werewolf and a shadowhunter fell out of the entry, both pausing to see the two prominent figures in their passionate embrace. Their eyes widened and their jaws dropped before they scurried to the main road. Magnus glanced back at Alec, his eyes glazed over, his cheeks flushed, and his lips swollen and Magnus was sure he had never seen anything more beautiful.

“I thought I had to choose, between you and the downworld but I don't,” Magnus started, his forehead resting against Alec’s. He closed his eyes and took a deep, shaky breath before opening them to catch Alec’s gaze. “I can’t make that choice because… because I love you, Alec,” Magnus confessed, his voice breathless as he finally admitted his feelings to the man in front of him. A smile overtook Alec’s face and Magnus felt like his whole world made sense again.

“I love you, too, Magnus. By the Angel…” Alec muttered before connecting their lips in a fiery kiss once more. Magnus laughed through the kiss, both of them grinning during the short time their lips parted. Magnus pulled back, Alec chasing his lips as if he was not ready for their kiss to end. Magnus cleared his throat before speaking.

“I'm all into parties, but what do you say we get out of here?” Alec nodded quickly, taking Magnus’ hand and turning them towards the street.

“Your place?” Alec suggested, wiggling his eyebrows playfully as Magnus conjured a portal in front of them. Magnus laughed loudly, throwing his head back before tugging Alec into him and placing a messy kiss on his lips.

“My, my, Alexander…  _ My Alexander, _ ” Magnus said simply. Alec crushed their mouths together before turning towards their destination. Magnus watched him wander toward the portal, his fingertips brushing his lips to savor the taste and feel of Alec on them. Alec held out his hand, urging Magnus grab hold and they disappeared through the portal. Together, for the rest of their lives.

**Author's Note:**

> I really loved this prompt after overthinking it for months 🤷🏻♀️  
As always, I appreciate screaming on [Tumblr](https://archeryandeyeliner.tumblr.com/). Please leave kudos if you like it and comment to make me smile.  



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